Nine Tails and Six Strings
by TheLastMessage
Summary: Ahri wanted nothing more to be human, and she's finally been given the chance. For her to live as a human, however, others must die. When Ahri's lethal way of life gets her in a bind, she is aided by a traveling musician who offers to teach her everything he can about humanity. Also on the table: a journey to the League of Legends. A story of life, love, and loss.


Chapter 1

As a warm springtime breeze blew through the sleepy Ionian village of Daeson, all was quiet. A village of only a few hundred inhabitants, Daeson was a village that one would be hard pressed to find on any major map. Nestled in between the northern mountains of the island city-state of Ionia, it was a village founded not by native Ionians, but by deserters from Noxus. When the beaches of Ionia had been invaded by the Noxian military half a decade earlier, some Noxian soldiers had seen that true war was not full of the glorious battles that had been told of in lore. Despite the militaristic culture of Noxus, its inhabitants were still just human, and the inhuman ways of war had been enough to cause them to turn their backs on their homeland and flee. While the generally peaceful Ionian populace had welcomed the deserters, many of the Noxians couldn't bring themselves to look at the people they had only just been slaughtering hours before. With nowhere else to go, they turned their eyes north, to the regions of Ionia untouched by the invasion.

Like most of Ionia, Daeson was surrounded by some of the most breathtaking landscape one's eyes could ever behold. The mountains around the village were covered in trees, most of which were still only just obtaining their leaves. Most still had the delicate blossoms of springtime. Down the sides of several of the mountains ran freshwater streams and waterfalls, adding to the luscious backdrop that was the Ionian countryside. For those wishing to lead a peaceful existence, Ionia couldn't be beaten.

If one lived peacefully, however, there was no guarantee that death would come in the same manner. Tonight, in a dimly lit room of the village's only inn, a life had not faded away. It had been stolen.

Found on the village outskirts to the north, the tiny little inn was the only place where a weary traveler could rest their feet. Unfortunately for one man, his feet weren't the only thing resting. He had not even been a traveler, but instead had been a man seduced to his death. On the smooth hardwood floor of one of the inn's four rooms laid his body, still warm and quite lifeless. If someone were to examine him, they would likely be confused as to how he had died. Not a mark could be seen on his body. There was no blood, no bruising. It was almost as if his life had been drained right out of him.

Some would find it hard to believe, but the truth was, it had been.

His killer stood over him; her golden, almond-shaped eyes seemingly glowing in the light of a lone candle on the room's table. She was, by all meanings of the word, beautiful. Not a man on Runeterra could doubt that. She appeared to be in her early twenties, and with gorgeous face and a lithe body to match, it took very little for the temptress to work her charm.

There was also no doubting that she was unusual though. She seemed human enough, with her long black hair and glowing alabaster skin. Her person, though seemingly one of a goddess, was also no doubt that of a human's. It didn't take long, however, for one to notice the more _unique_ characteristics of the women.

Even wearing the long brown cloak that she was, it was easy to see. She had tails, nine of them to be exact, all a light grayish-hue and as long as she was tall. They were the tails of a fox, with which she shared her cunning. Her golden eyes, while charming, were also an unusual feature. Her face bore strange markings on her cheeks, almost like whiskers, three to each side. Lastly, nestled on the top of her head were small, black, pointed ears, these also seemingly belonging to a fox.

One could come to two conclusions then. One was that this woman was a gorgeous example of human beauty. The other was that she was more than a little foxlike.

Her name was Ahri, and if she seemed a little foxlike, it was because she had indeed at one point been a white fox. It was a strange tale, though perhaps not too strange among those who were familiar with magic.

A few years before, Ahri had been a fox roaming through the woods of southern Ionia. She had always been different. From almost the day she had been born, she had felt as if there was more for her out in the world. She felt that, even though she had been born as a fox, it was not what was truly meant to be. For the first few years of her life she wandered about, a restless soul in an ill-fitted body. One day she stumbled across a house, full of strange creatures. They had walked upright on two legs and spoken in loud, boisterous voices. Days went by and the more Ahri had watched these creatures, these_ humans_, the more she desired to be one of them. It would be months later when her wish was finally granted.

Out on the search for a meal, she had come across the aftermath of a dispute among the humans. While she had observed the other humans argue before, it seemed that this dispute had been one of colossal scale. Hundreds of bodies had littered the fields; bodies belonging to both the dead and the dying. As she walked among them, she was drawn to a particular man. He had been surrounded by a magical field; one powerful enough for even the little fox to recognize. Even as she approached she could feel the magic weaken. The man was dying, bleeding out right before her very eyes. He had heard her as she walked closer and had looked up at her. When their gazes had connected, something extraordinary had happened. Even to this day, Ahri didn't have the slightest idea how it had happened. When she had locked eyes with the mystical man, his life essence had been transferred to her. It had been frightening yet exhilarating at the same time. Whatever the reason had been for the magical occurrence, the end result had been what she had always dreamed of. She had been transformed, an incredible transfiguration into the beauty she was now.

Unfortunately for the man who now laid at her feet, as well as many others, the transformation had come with a price. In order to maintain her physical form, she needed to consume the life energies of other humans. Her cunning as a fox made the task easy and she had easily adapted the basic customs of the humans. Within the first few months of her new life, she was walking and talking comfortably among other people. Even learning the common languages among humans came easy to the clever girl. Using her natural beauty, she had quickly learned a common weakness among her prey: lust.

The way she had lured the man to her room tonight had been the same way she had with several others. She had walked into the town's tavern, and a few winks and a waggle of the finger later, she had hooked her catch. They had run to the inn together, and she had barely waited for the door to close before making her move.

Conjuring up an orb of magical energy, she had hurled it straight at the man's chest the instant he had turned to face her. The orb itself was made up life essence; a blue wisp of mystical power. When the orb had entered the man it turned green, seemingly phasing through him as it added the victim's essence to its own. Ahri had watched the life fade out of the man's eyes, even as he continued to wear that lustful grin of his.

As a fox, she had learned to accept the fact that death was necessary. In order for her to survive, other creatures had to die. But now, even as she had drained the life from yet another victim, she had felt a pang of guilt. The humans she saw all around her were happy. Some of them borderline carefree. How could they be that way while guilt was a part of being human? She loved her human life, she really did. The body, the foods, the culture; all of it was wonderful in her eyes. But some things that she experienced were…well, unwelcome. Topping the list was this feeling of guilt every time she killed. At the beginning of her human life, she had killed with ease. Sometimes she had even toyed with her prey. Now though, \killing seemed more like a chore, and an unwanted one at that.

She looked down at the body by her feet. She would hide the body later. Right now, she just needed some time to think. She disrobed until she wore only her undergarments and crawled into the bed. Wrapping her tails around her, she stroked one of them, the soft fur comforting to the touch. Looking down one last time at the body, she sighed.

_Surely there's another way._

* * *

Ahri woke up early the next morning to hide the body. It hadn't been hard. She had intentionally rented the room around the back of the inn for just such a purpose. Her victim hadn't been a big man, so dragging him out to the woods on the edge of Daeson hadn't been hard for the athletic girl. She had laid him in a dry creek bed, the body wrapped in a blanket, and walked away without looking back. Hopefully the other villagers wouldn't notice the man was missing for a while, but in such a small town, she figured that was unlikely. She would stay one more day, but that was all. It just enough time to buy some supplies with the gold she had looted off of the corpse.

_Corpse, _she thought. _What an unpleasant word._

Shaking the thought from her head, she forged onward back into town. She walked towards the center of the village, keeping the hood on her cloak low. She kept her tails pressed tight against her back keeping her figure relatively normal while covered in the loose fitting garb. It took a fair bit of effort, but keeping inconspicuous was imperative. With all the lives that she had taken, staying low was now a way of life.

As she walked along the unpaved village roads, she began to hear a rather unfamiliar sound. Having been in Daeson for nearly a week now, she was already used to the sounds, sights, and smells of the place. Underneath her hood, the pointed ears atop her head shifted towards the sound. It was music. Curiosity got the better of her and she weaved her way between the village's small buildings, looking for the source of the melodic noise. Quickly pinpointing the direction it was coming from, the music became clearer as she drew closer.

As she rounded the corner of a house, she immediately saw where the music was coming from. Twenty feet in front of her, a lone man sat on the ground, his eyes closed and a guitar in his lap. He plucked away at the six strings, producing soft and soothing notes. His hands worked the strings over, producing a slow and relaxing melody. Several people had already gathered around, some sitting while others remained standing.

The man himself appeared to be in his mid-twenties; his shaggy, dark-brown hair falling just below his ears. He was unshaven, though he only seemed to be sporting a few days' worth of stubble. Even though he was sitting, Ahri judged him to be a few inches under six feet tall. He wore a plain traveler's cloak, much like Ahri herself, though his seemed much more worn.

She continued to watch as the man played, his song serenading all of those within earshot. At one point, she even caught herself swaying gently to the music, her body moving subtly back and forth with the melody. Though she was still a little unfamiliar with human's music, she found that she genuinely liked what she was hearing. When the man finally finished, he opened his eyes to reveal a pair of striking opaline green irises. Ahri joined in with the rest of the gathered audience in applauding the performance, all the while continuing to watch the performer even as the rest of the people went their separate ways.

Ahri couldn't recall having ever seen the man in the village before, so she deduced that it was likely that he was a traveler. He also appeared to be alone. _The perfect formula for a victim_, she realized.

This got the gears in the fox's head turning. Absorbing more life essence so soon would mean that she wouldn't need to go on the prowl for nearly another month and a half, plenty of time for her to get far, far away from Daeson. She could kill the man tonight and then skip town as soon as she was finished.

Even as she plotted out how she would lure the man back to the inn, she felt a pain in her heart. There it was again, that feeling of guilt. She sighed.

_Might as well deal with the pain now so I can avoid it later, _she figured. Still, she felt a sliver of regret for choosing the musician as her next target. He had made such fantastic music for the enjoyment of others, and to see the light fade from his eyes...

She had a feeling that if she killed this man, it would be the first time she would ever look away.

_Perhaps I'll give him a chance. I don't need the essence right this instant, _she thought. Pulling her hood low, she turned and walked back toward the market to continue her shopping. If the man was gone by sunset, she would forget all about him and head south like she had originally planned. If he was still there come evening however…

Ahri shook her head slowly, still listening to the music as it faded away into the wind. She silently found herself praying that the young musician would find some reason, any reason, to leave. She stopped walking for a moment, her ears flattening against the top of her head in sadness. The life of an essence thief used to be easy for her. Now, it seemed that it was slowly becoming nothing more than an unwanted burden. She felt that she had been given her human life for a purpose, something that would make a difference in the world. This, however… this was definitely not it.

* * *

**Author's Note: Hey all, here's my new story! Compared to my other story, Light of Redemption, this one will likely be sporting shorter chapters and a little less focus on love, with more emphasis on wanderlust and adventure. Updating...well I can't say for sure how quick updating on this will be compared to LoR. I suppose that's all I have to say, so if you don't mind dropping off a review to tell me what I did right or royally screwed up on, I'd appreciate it. If you see any errors, don't be afraid to drop me a PM to point it out. Thanks for reading and take care!**


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